I have to confess November
had me worried. Day after day of beautiful weather. Blue skies. Warm days.
Gorgeous autumnal foliage that just went on and on. But, and this was the
worry, not a drop of rain. And as November stretched into December, little
seemed to be changing.
Rain is my obsession. From
mid-October to mid-March I basically can't get enough of it. At Nether Wallop
Mill the bedroom at the top of the mill building has a huge slate roof that
resonates like a kettle drum when the downpours come. Some nights it so loud it
wakes me up and when it does I smile and drift back to sleep safe in the
knowledge that my chalkstreams are receiving their life enhancing
moisture.
For these are not normal
rivers; the water that flows through them has, as they say on the X Factor,
been on a journey. The rain that splashes from the heavens tonight will not
appear in the river for six months, in between seeping thousands of feet into
the chalk layers beneath southern England to reappear at the surface maybe a
hundred miles from where it originally fell as the purest, most perfect water
for trout and the ecosystem around which the chalkstream valleys revolve. So
when I see a dry November I worry not for today but for the summer to come.
I am sure that over the
Christmas holidays you will look out the window and curse the vile, wet
weather. The dog won't get that walk and nor, more importantly will you but at
least be happy for me and the chalkstreams. The past few weeks have wiped out
the deficit and every little bit from now on is the icing on the cake. Maybe I
should believe in Santa Claus after all?
If you have read this far
today, and my other Blogs and Newsletters in the past year, please may I offer a sincere
and heartfelt thank you. There will be more to come in 2014 but for now, from
us all at Fishing Breaks, have a truly wonderful Christmas
